Method and system for bagging material

ABSTRACT

A method and an apparatus for enclosing material in a bag is described for a bag comprising a stretchable material and having a first dimension and a second dimension. The method comprises stretching the bag in the first dimension, placing material in the bag, releasing the bag in the first dimension, stretching the bag in a second dimension, evacuating the bag, and sealing the bag. The apparatus comprises a bagger configured to stretch the bag in a first dimension, to receive the material, and to release the bag in the first dimension, and a packaging apparatus comprising a nozzle coupled to a vacuum system, a grasping means, and a clipper means, the grasping means configured to hold a neck of the bag to the nozzle and to stretch the bag in the second dimension.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATION APPLICATION

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/228,077, filed Jul. 23, 2009, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention is generally directed to a system for encasing materials, such as poultry or other materials, in plastic bags. The invention is used for packaging poultry such as whole dressed chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys, but can be used as well for poultry parts, such as turkey breasts, for whole-muscle meats, such as hams, for other food items such as game, cheeses, and sausages, and for non-food items as well.

One prior-art method to encase chickens and turkeys is to place one manually in a plastic bag and apply a clip or other sealing means to the neck of the bag. This method requires little capital investment. The bag must be large enough for the bird to fit easily into the bag, however, which results in a loose appearance of the bag around the bird. This appearance is unsatisfactory to some consumers, and also requires larger bags at increased costs.

One solution in the prior art was to evacuate the bag before sealing it, for both marketability reasons and health reasons. In general, a whole dressed bird is placed in a plastic bag, the bag is closed by gathering the mouth of the bag into a neck around a nozzle, the neck of the bag is held around the nozzle by the jaws of a clipping apparatus, a vacuum is drawn on the nozzle to remove excess air from the bag, causing the bag to collapse around the bird, and a clip is applied to the neck of the bag to seal the bag.

The process as described above has been automated, for example by the apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,795,085, Device for the Evacuation, Clipping, and Trimming of Bag-Like Packages, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. An apparatus of this type generally comprises a rotating circular table, a plurality of radially-oriented evacuation nozzles, and a clamping means at each nozzle. A bagged product, such as a dressed turkey in a plastic bag, is applied to each of the vacuum nozzles at a first position. As each vacuum nozzle travels circularly, the clamping means closes to seal the bag to the nozzle, the vacuum nozzle evacuates the bag, a clip is applied, the excess bag or “tail” is removed, the clamping means opens, and the now packaged turkey is removed from the table. In some applications, the entire package is then sent to a netting machine for enclosure in netting.

The plastic bag can be shrunk even further by use of shrinkable plastic for the bag. The package is sent to a shrink tunnel and exposed to heat by steam or hot water. The plastic, when exposed to heat, shrinks even further around the bird. The plastic used in shrinkable bags is a non-breathing type of plastic, so these types of bags can be used for fresh birds as well as for frozen birds.

This process requires a lot of energy and water to shrink the plastic. A need exists for a method of bagging poultry to produce a tightly-encased bird within plastic, but avoiding the trouble and expense of the prior art. The present invention meets this need.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is a method and an apparatus for enclosing material in a bag, for a bag comprising a stretchable material and having a first dimension and a second dimension. The method comprises stretching the bag in the first dimension, placing material in the bag, releasing the bag in the first dimension, stretching the bag in a second dimension, evacuating the bag, and sealing the bag. The apparatus comprises a bagger configured to stretch the bag in a first dimension, to receive the material, and to release the bag in the first dimension, and a packaging apparatus comprising a nozzle coupled to a vacuum system, a grasping means, a clipper means, and an iris, the grasping means configured to hold a neck of the bag to the nozzle, the iris configured to push the material in the bag away from the grasping means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The organization and manner of the structure and operation of the invention, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying non-scale drawings, wherein like reference numerals identify like elements in which:

FIGS. 1A through 1C are elevation views of a whole dressed bird encased in a plastic bag, as is produced by the method and apparatus of the present invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrammatic views of a plastic bag as used in the preferred embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a top diagrammatic view of the apparatus of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side diagrammatic view of the apparatus of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a whole dressed bird at a step of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the bird of FIG. 5 after the next step of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the bird of FIG. 5 after yet another step of the preferred embodiment of the present invention of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the bird of FIG. 5 after yet another step of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the bird of FIG. 5 after yet another step of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

While the invention may be susceptible to embodiment in different forms, there is shown in the drawings, and herein will be described in detail, specific embodiments with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to that as illustrated and described herein.

Representative packaged assemblies 20 of a whole dressed bird 22 encased in a plastic bag 24 and sealed therein by a clip 26 applied to neck 28 of bag 24 are shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C. Please note that in some applications, neck 28 of the bag 24 is gathered above the packaged item 20 and the clip 26 is applied above the packaged item 20, as shown in FIG. 1A.

Some consumers find this appearance objectionable for some types of food items. Those food items would present a more pleasing appearance if clip 26 were not visible from the front of packaged assembly 20, as shown in, for example, FIG. 1B. In this situation, neck 28 is gathered on a side of the enclosed material and clip 26 is applied as shown in FIG. 1C. For other food items, the appearance as shown in FIG. 1 is satisfactory. The present invention can be used to package material in either configuration.

The present invention will be described in an embodiment relating to bagging whole dressed turkeys. The invention is not limited to this particular application, however.

The present invention uses stretchable material for plastic bags 24. In the preferred embodiment, bag 24 is made of polyethylene to which a memory agent has been added. This material will stretch when a force is applied (up to a limit) and will relax back to, or at least very close to, the original size when the force is removed. This material allows the use of printed bags, which is important in marketing consumer goods. The information printed on the bags, such as brand names and logos, distorts upon stretching but reverts to its original appearance when the plastic material relaxes back to its original size. The use of polyethylene film with three to ten percent ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) has been found to provide satisfactory memory and minimal distortion of printed matter. Other plastics and other memory agents are used as well.

Bag 24 as used in the present invention is conventionally made of a top sheet 24 a folded over a bottom sheet 24 b, with the sides welded together by ultrasound or heat to form bag 24. Sometimes, the lower corners are trimmed to provide a tapered bag. Bag manufacturers generally provide a series of bags 24 stacked flat.

Bag 24 is when flat is generally rectangular and has a first dimension or height h and a second dimension or width w, as shown in FIG. 2A. Bag 24 when opened has a first dimension or height h and a second dimension or diameter d, as shown in FIG. 2B.

Bag 24 is stretched open in the w dimension preferably using a bagger, a turkey 22 is pushed into bag 24, and bag 24 is released, causing bag 24 to revert from its stretched position to a relaxed position over turkey 22. A bagger and methods of bagging are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,895,726, Poly-stretch Bagger System, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

To further stretch bag 24 over turkey 22, an evacuation process is used before bag 24 is sealed. In the preferred embodiment, bag 24, encasing turkey 22, is placed on packaging apparatus 40. Packaging apparatus, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, is preferably a rotatable framework 42 with multiple stations for evacuating bags 24. In this embodiment, framework 42 is connected, preferably by a gear assembly 48, to a motor 50. In other embodiments, motor 50 drives framework 42 in a rotating motion by belts, shafts, cranks, cams, or other means.

A central vacuum pump 52 is connected by suitable piping 54 to a plurality of vacuum nozzles 56. In the illustrated embodiment, there are eight vacuum nozzles 56, but in other embodiments, other numbers of vacuum nozzles can be used. For example, apparatus 40 could comprise a single nozzle without a rotating framework. The tip 58 of each vacuum nozzle 56 extends through a grasping means 60. In the preferred embodiment, grasping means 60 is a pair of jaws configured to clamp neck 28 onto nozzle 56. Grasping means 60 in the preferred embodiment has jaws actuated by one or more air-actuated cylinders (not shown) connected to a compressed air supply. In other embodiments, the jaws of grasping means 60 are actuated electronically or electromechanically. In yet other embodiments, the jaws of grasping means 60 are actuated manually. In other embodiments, other grasping means 60 are used, such as wire or band sealers, tapers, and tying devices.

Grasping means 60 is movable from a position adjacent bagged turkey 20, as shown in FIG. 5, to a position remote from bagged turkey 20, as shown in FIG. 8. Each grasping means 60 preferably travels by means of an air-actuated cylinder (not shown) connected to a compressed air supply. In other embodiments, grasping means 60 travels by electronic or electromechanical means. In other embodiments, grasping means is moved from one position to the other manually.

Located just past tip 58 is clipping means 64. Clipping means 64 is preferably a conventional clipping apparatus, including gathering jaws, a clip rail, a punch, and a die, and is actuated by one or more air-actuated cylinders connected to a compressed air supply to apply a conventional clip. In yet other embodiments, other automated devices that apply conventional clips, wires, bands, sealing tape, twist ties, cables, or other sealing means are used. In yet other embodiments, clipper means 64 is operated manually.

In the preferred embodiment, a central controller 62 is coupled to each of pump 52, grasping means 60, and clipper means 64. Controller 62 is preferably an electronic control, such as a standard Siemens central processing unit, with a “power 5 6EP1333-1SL11” power supply, a “Simatic S7-300 314-1AEO4-0AB0” PLC, a 32-output “SM322 321-1BL00-0AA0” card, a 32-input “SM 321 321-ABLO00-0AA0” card, and a 16-input “SM 321 321-1BH0S-0AA0” card. In other embodiments, other PLC-based electronic controls are used. In other embodiments, controller 62 is an analog controller. In yet other embodiments, apparatus 40 is controlled manually.

In operation, after material such as a turkey has been bagged in the manner described in, preferably, U.S. Pat. No. 6,895,726, Poly-Stretch Bagger System, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein, neck 28 of bag 24 is placed over nozzle 56, as shown in FIG. 5. The gathering jaws of grasping means 60 close over neck 28 and hold the plastic material of neck 28 tightly to nozzle 56, as shown in FIG. 6. Then, or at the same time, the gathering jaws of clipper means 64 wrap around neck 28, distal to nozzle 56, and vacuum pump 52 evacuates any excess air out of bag 24, causing bag 24 to collapse even more tightly about turkey 22, as shown in FIG. 7.

Grasping means 60 next moves to its second position, remote from bagged turkey 20, as shown in FIG. 8. Since grasping means 60 is holding neck 28 tightly to nozzle 56, but the plastic of neck 28 can still slide along nozzle 56, bag 24 is pulled even more tightly about turkey 20 as neck 20 is pulled by grasping means 60 away from turkey 20.

Clipping means 64 then applies a clip 26 to bag 24, and severs neck 28, sealing turkey 22 within bag 24 to form packaged assembly 20, as shown in FIG. 9. Please note that apparatus 40 can place clip 26 above turkey 22, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 9, or next to turkey 22, as shown in FIG. 1C, in the manner described in United States Published Patent Application No. 2009/0044488 A1, Dual Mode Bagger, filed Aug. 15, 2008, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

In the preferred embodiment, the tail of bag 24, the excess plastic distal to clip 26, is trimmed using a trimmer Package 20 is then weighed on a scale and, preferably, a tag is printed with the weight and other information, such as date, lot number, and factory identification, preferably on a laser printer. The tag is applied to package 20 and, in some applications, package 20 is also enclosed in a net, preferably by a netter such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,883,297, Apparatus for Enclosing Material in a Net, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein. Package 20 is then frozen in a freezer for shipment to distributors and consumers.

The method of the preferred embodiment of the invention comprises the following steps, not necessarily in this exact order:

-   -   Step 101. Enlarge stretchable bag 24 radially to increase its         diameter by stretching;     -   Step 102. Place turkey 22 inside stretchable bag 24;     -   Step 103. Release stretchable bag 24 to decrease its diameter;         bag 24 collapses about turkey 22;     -   Step 104. Grasp neck 28 of stretchable bag 24;     -   Step 105. Evacuate air from inside of stretchable bag 24;     -   Step 106. Pull neck 28 of stretchable bag 24 away from turkey         22;     -   Step 107. Apply clip 26 to neck 28;     -   Step 108. Sever neck 28 above clip 26;     -   Step 109. Trim tail of bag 24;     -   Step 110. Weigh package 20;     -   Step 111. Net package 20;     -   Step 112. Apply tag to package 20;     -   Step 113. Freeze package 20.

Not all of these steps need be taken. For example, the weighing, netting, trimming, and tagging steps are optional depending on the application. For other examples, Steps 105 and 106 can be reversed in order or can be done at the same time.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown and described, it is envisioned that those skilled in the art may devise various modifications of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. 

1. An apparatus for sealing a bag of encased material, comprising: a nozzles connected to a central vacuum system, each said nozzle having a tip, each said tip extending through a grasping means, the grasping means being movable along the nozzle from a first position adjacent to the tip to a second position remote from the tip; a clipping means adjacent to the tip.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the grasping means comprises jaws.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the clipping means comprises a clipper.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the clipper comprises gathering jaws, a clip rail, a punch, and a die.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a bagger.
 6. A method of sealing a bag of enclosed material, the method comprising the steps of: stretching a bag radially; placing the material in the bag; releasing the radial stretch; grasping the neck of the bag; evacuating air from inside the bag; pulling the neck of the bag away from the material; and applying a clip to the neck;
 7. The method of claim 5, further comprising the steps of severing the neck above the clip; trimming the tail of the bag; weighing the bag; and applying a tag to the bag.
 8. The method of claim 6, further comprising netting the bag. 